Sober Up!

1 Peter 4.7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Now there’s a title for an early morning devotion; sober up. Peter is writing to brothers and sisters in Christ. They are going through a season of fiery trials and persecutions. He then tells them that the end of all things is at hand, or near. So in light of the fact that God’s prophetic hourglass was running out, they were to be sober. The word for sober can also mean to be watchful. The idea is clear headed, not closed by intoxicants or distractions. To be sober minded means to be single minded.

Paul talks about the need to be sober-minded this was. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. According to Paul, if I fail to be sober minded, it is likened to falling asleep or being drunk. To be asleep or drunk means that I am not aware of what is really going on.

Beloved, we cannot afford to spiritually fall asleep or be impaired by things that intoxicate our minds against the call and purposes of Jesus Christ for us. We must be sober and vigilant minded because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Do we see the consequences of refusing to be biblically sober-minded and alert in my life? We need to be biblically sober minded when going through times of testings and trials. We need to be biblically sober minded because we have an adversary who seeks to lure us into the snares of temptation in order to devour us.

Dear ones, never forget that as citizens of heaven, we are living on foreign soil. We are living in a world that is hostile towards any who desire to seriously and sincerely follow Jesus. Be sober, fellow Christian. Do not give in to the unbiblical distractions and attractions that wage war against your soul.